NBA Insider Again Links Cleveland Cavaliers To Brandon Ingram Trade

An NBA insider has again brought up the Cleveland Cavaliers as a Brandon Ingram trade suitor.

Mar 13, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram (14) dribbles against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro (35) during the second half at Smoothie King Center. / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers are preparing for NBA free agency and the trade market to open up in full. After adding Jayson Tyson in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft, the Cavaliers still have a lot of work to do if they want to build a championship contender for the 2024-25 season.

It seems likely that Donovan Mitchell will end up signing a long-term extension to remain with the team. However, Cleveland will need to find more talent to play alongside him.

Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans has been viewed as a potential trade candidate, but the Cavaliers don't appear interested in trading any of their core four of Darius Garland, Mitchell, Evan Mobley, or Jarrett Allen.

Those reports have quieted the Ingram talk down dramatically. But, now another report has kept them firmly in the loop when it comes to Ingram trade discussions.

According to Yahoo! Sports NBA insider Jake Fischer, Cleveland is still a team to watch for an Ingram trade. He did mention that it could be difficult to get done due to the Cavaliers not wanting to trade their current key players.

"Cleveland continues to be mentioned by league personnel as a possible alternative for Ingram, but there’s no straight forward path to making such a deal work with the Cavaliers. While Cleveland holds interest in Ingram and values his skillset, sources said, Cavs personnel have maintained a reluctance to breaking up the team’s core of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, as NBA figures continue preparing for Mitchell to sign a lucrative extension."

Fischer continued forward, mentioning that Allen would likely be the piece that the Pelicans would want to be included, as he has long been of interest as a trade target.

Honestly, as much as Allen has been important to Cleveland, not acquiring Ingram to keep him would be a mistake.

Ingram would be the missing piece that the Cavaliers need. He's an elite scorer and he would be a perfect running mate for Mitchell.

During the 2023-24 season with New Orleans, Ingram ended up averaging 20.8 points per game to go along with 5.7 assists and 5.1 rebounds. He shot 49.2 percent from the floor overall and knocked down 35.5 percent of his three-point attempts.

At just 26 years old, Ingram would fit the timeline for the young Cleveland squad as well. He would be a perfect match for the team and would take a lot of pressure off of Mitchell.

All of that being said, it will be interesting to see what the Cavaliers choose to do this offseason. If a real opportunity arises to acquire Ingram with Allen being the biggest piece going back to the Pelicans, would they really pass on that chance?

Expect to continue hearing rumors about Cleveland as the offseason gets underway. The Cavaliers desperately want to return to championship contention and Ingram could immediately take them a big step closer towards that goal.